"It seems that Ferrari has more problems than us again": Red Bull's Helmut Marko shares insight about the Italian counterpart

Red Bull chief advisor Helmut Marko feels Ferrari might once again be struggling with tire wear this season. The first day of the pre-season test ended with Max Verstappen on top of the timesheets once again with a gap of more than a second to the driver in second.

This allayed fears that the Red Bull camp would have had when it altered course and changed the car concept as compared to the 2023 F1 season. The team's special advisor, Helmut Marko, was present for interviews once the day was over and was very happy with the proceedings.

Talking about the comparative standings of Red Bull to the rest of the field, Marko specifically touched on Ferrari and felt the team once again had a few tire issues. Talking about McLaren and Mercedes, Marko wasn't entirely sure but felt that the Woking-based squad had a car that was a bit nervous on track and the German team was hard to predict. In conversation with Nu.nl, he said,

"Looking at tire wear, it seems that Ferrari has more problems than us again. The McLaren seemed to have a somewhat nervous behavior. I can't judge Mercedes properly. I don't fully understand what they did today, but I do think they are faster have become."

He added,

"But we can have confidence. The first feedback from Max was positive. All the changes we made to the setup today worked. The car responded well, it was mainly fine-tuning what we did."

Red Bull's rivals did not expect a change in car concept

The Austrian team did not expect a change in car concept as every competitor seemed to have followed the previous car's design. That's what Helmut Marko feels as he was quizzed about the car looking quite different this year from the last one.

As is often the case, the benchmark car tends to get used as an inspiration by the chasing pack to make improvements. That is precisely what almost every other team has done this year but Red Bull has completely flipped the script by bringing a radically different challenger from last season. Marko said,

"It was very impressive. We completed 143 laps without any major problems. And that concept works. We can develop this further. It all looks good. Red Bull's choice to make important interventions was striking, because the team has been a trendsetter in Formula 1 for two years. The competitors' cars all look like our car from last year. I mainly think that they did not expect what we did."

He added,

"The reliability was also very good. Verstappen was a mile eater on the day and never spent long periods of time in the Red Bull pit box. Mercedes had some problems, but our car just worked from the first moment. We are proud and happy. The reliability is incredible."

Even though it was only the first day of the pre-season test, the Austrian team has certainly laid down a marker for everyone on the field.